Outfit of the Day

Jean vest and asymmetrical chevron dress.

Ombre chambrey button up.

Swap Meet Haul

One of our favorite past times here at "What's Bippin?" is thrifting. We love searching for hidden treasures at second hand stores and swap meets/flea markets.

Recently we took a trip down to what some say is one of the best swap meets in the country: Kobey's in San Diego. We were in search of some needed items for some of our upcoming craft projects and with not a lot of money to spend it was the perfect place.

You never know what you're going to find at the swap meet, which is part of the excitement and appeal, however, it is also the downfall. We have had our share of disappointing swap meet outings where we've left with nothing, making it a huge waste of time. And then you have days like this day, where it pays off big time! On this Saturday morning the swap meet was packed. Tons of vendors, tons of stuff! We found many goodies for close to nothing. Sure, some items were a little rough around the edges, but nothing a little T.L.C. won't fix. Cue "Waterfalls"... I kid, kid.

So, here's what we got:

Vintage Earrings

Vintage Pins & Necklace

Vintage Earrings

Vintage Bracelet

Vintage Sweater Clip

Vintage Sweater Clip

Vintage Tie Clip

Vintage Earrings

Vintage Earrings

Vintage Earrings

Vintage Earrings

Vintage Chain Necklace

Vintage Notepad

Vintage Notepad (open)

Vintage Bentley BX-3 Toy Camera

L'oreal Gorgeous  Gold, Revlon Endless Possibilities, L'oreal Silver Sparkle

The stuff we got was literally purchased at 4 different stands. We didn't even cover half of the swap meet and we would have continued to shop, except we ran out of money. I (Lesli) made a rookie mistake by not hitting up the ATM before going and only had $20 to my name. Next time, which will hopefully be soon, we will be better prepared.

Thrifting is by no means an easy job. It's dirty and grimy, but we endure in the hopes of finding something spectacular we can give new life to. 

Happy thrifting to all! And as the Hunger Games say, may the odds be ever in your favor... unless you're at a thrift store or swap meet near us, in that case, don't take the good stuff. ;)

With Love,

Lesli and Michelle

Music Monday

This Monday I am loving me some Foster the People.

They have been around for a while now. So, it's not that I just discovered the band, however I did just discover how in love I am with their song "I Would Do Anything For You".

Although, they are best known for "Pumped Up Kicks", which is also a great song, I feel that it does not accurately portray the rest of the band's work which is much more positive, up-beat and overall feel good stuff.

"I Would Do Anything For You" is sweet and simple which is exactly how a love song should be.

You can tell the composer(s) was/were in a good place when it was written.

The feeling is contagious, you just can't help but be in a good mood when you hear it.

"I said it I don't know what the plan is but you can share with me

'Cause I'll be listening here to everything you say

I won't turn away and I'll listen, open up my heart and I must say that I love you" 

Wishing one and all a lovely Monday! <3

Lesli 

I'm a bit sad this Monday because I'm sick. 
So one of the best ways I know to liven my mood is listening to music.
Therefore, the song that I chose for that is Devendra Banhart's - Santa Maria De Feira.

This song automatically transports me to a sunny day on the beach. Hope you all enjoy it as much as I do!

Happy Monday!
Michelle

Outfit of the Day

Lesli's Bake Shop and Sweets

So, my very first post about baking has absolutely nothing to do with baking. This is due mainly to bad planning on my part and for which I apologize greatly. However, in order to incorporate it into my original "Bake Shop" idea, I have added "and sweets" to the title to make it work! That's what we do here at "What's Bippin?", we make it work! Did Tim Gun trademark that phrase? Hope we don't get sued.

Anyway, I am excited to feature the oh-so delicious Red Velvet Hot Chocolate with Cream Cheese Whipped Cream! A nice twist on traditional hot cocoa and perfect for the cold weather during these winter months. Brrrr... Besides, how can you go wrong with anything red velvet? I mean, really! And on that note, God bless the South for this creation and damn them too! They are the ones responsible for red velvet, right? 

I should start off by saying this recipe was stolen from another blog (give credit where credit is due) and you can see it HERE.

What appealed me to her version was how minimal the ingredients were (I had all but 1 ingredient already!) and how quick and easy it seemed. I've said it before, I'll say it again, the "What's Bippin?" team loves "easy"!

Ingredients:

• 4 cups
 Whole Milk

• 1 dash
 Water

• ¾ cups
 Premium Of Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips

• 1 teaspoon
 Red Food Coloring

• 1 cup
 Heavy Whipping Cream

• 1 Tablespoon
 Sugar

• 1 teaspoon
 Whipped Cream Cheese

In a medium saucepan, heat the milk over medium heat. 

Add a splash of water and the chocolate chips, constantly stirring gently. 

When almost melted, add the red food coloring paste and stir some more. 

The color should be a deep red, similar to the picture above.

 When the chocolate chips are all melted, pour the hot chocolate in four mugs and top with the whipped cream.

Preparation Instructions:

In a medium mixing bowl or a stand-up mixer, pour in heavy whipping cream and sugar. Whip on medium with the whisk attachment for 2-3 minutes. Just before it peaks, add the teaspoon of whipped cream cheese and whisk for another 2 minutes. Taste the whipped cream and add more cream cheese to taste. If you like it more tart, I’d say add another 1/2 teaspoon, just be careful to not over-whip or you’ll have butter on your hands in no time.

Following her measurements gave us about 3 full cups. You can maybe stretch 4 by not filling them up all the way, but really I would probably just suggest you add one more cup of milk, make the 3/4 cup of chocolate chips a full cup and add a bigger "splash" of water. I will most likely be trying it that way next time. Another tweak I did was top the cups off with marshmallows right be serving for an added sweetness. We piled those babies sky high and just let those calories roll... or become rolls, whatever, it's delicious, drink it up, who cares, enjoy!

Voila! Easy peezy! All you need now is a good movie, a cozy blanket and someone to snuggle close to.

Love,

Lesli

Decorating Coffee Mugs with Sharpies!

Design and decorate your coffee mugs using Sharpies! 

We have seen this idea floating around cyber space for a while and it looked pretty cool, so we figured we would try it. We have to admit that a motivating factor was how inexpensive it is. You can use any old coffee mug you have laying around or go to your local dollar store and purchase one or two for close to nothing. The other thing you need is Sharpies or similar permanent markers which are also relatively cheap to purchase, if you don't already own any.

Pre-heat your oven to about 400 degrees. Next, decide on how you want to design your mug. After you have created your masterpiece, simply pop it in the oven for a good half hour. This should set your design and make it smudge-proof. Note the emphasis on the word "should". When discussing this craft with a friend who had tried it previously, she mentioned after a few washes the designs begin to fade. So, we were thinking some top coat/sealer should be incorporated into the process, however we found no tutorials including this as a step. We we will wait to see what happens with ours and if need be later look into different sealing options.

Voila! We present our final products...

I personally loved the colored mugs Michelle used as opposed to my boring white ones. Makes for a really nice contrast. We spent about $4-$6 each (we saved a bit with the metallic Sharpies, since Michelle already had those) and we were pretty satisfied with the outcome.

Music Monday

The What's Bippin team decided to take a holiday along with everyone else last Monday, on New Year's Eve, and unfortunately had to cancel that days Music Monday. But we are happy to announce that we are back in action! New year, new goals and very excited for our future endeavors!

Lesli:

This will be the first Music Monday of 2013! I decided to take a more inspirational route with my pick and go with Ellie Goulding's "Anything Could Happen". The English songstress made quite the splash here in the states, with her more popular hit "Lights". I felt as though when it first came out it was literally playing everywhere! I enjoy Ms. Goulding's music very much but have recently found myself really into "Anything Could Happen". A handful of people (fortunately for me, unfortunately for them) who have been in a vehicle with me while that song is playing have heard and seen the ridiculous spectacle I make while it's on. While it is embarrassing, I really can't help myself. It's so catchy and upbeat! I also feel it appropriately describes my outlook towards 2013... anything could happen!

Michelle:

Today I decided to pick something a little different from the norm, mainly because it’s in a foreign language. I chose Mallu Magalhães’ song Velha e Louca (meaning ‘Old and Crazy).
Mallu is an artist I’ve been crazy about for quite a while because she has a very different sound from a lot of the other Brazilian artists out there whom usually choose to stick with the traditional Samba/Bossa Nova sound. While she does have a Samba song or two, her main influences are Classic Rock and Folk as well as The Beatles, Belle & Sebastian, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, and other similar musical styles.

Mallu also sings and composes in English and French, so if you don’t understand Portuguese, you should definitely check out some of her other songs!

Enjoy!